Dear Readers,

This is a poem written in 2004 when I was in eighth grade. Our assignment was to pick a piece of literature we had read over the year, and write our own version of Langston Hughes' poem "Mother to Son", using two characters from the story/book we had selected. I chose to do my poem based on The Giver and used Jonas and Gabriel. I hope you enjoy.

Best Regards from a Bookworm,

Miss Pookamonga ;-P

Jonas to Gabriel

Modeled after "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes

Well, Gabriel, I'll tell you:

Life for me hasn't been a smooth road.

It's had broken glass on it,

And jagged pebbles,

And unexpected potholes,

And places with no pavement—

Uneven.

But all the time

I've been walking on,

And reaching rocky cliffs,

And turning at forks,

And sometimes going through thickets

Where there haven't been any trail markers.

So Gabriel, don't you turn back.

Don't you stumble on the path

Because you find it's kind of hard.

Don't you fall now—

For I'm still going, Gabriel,

I'm still walking,

And life for me hasn't been a smooth road.